Office Relations
by Lily Icerem
Summary: China didn't want to be on an island in the middle of nowhere with the rest of the countries. Their bosses were furious with what they had done... The meetings were already enough, and now he had to spend everyday working in the same place as them? Yao was NOT happy... except a certain Russian was going to be there... maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it would be.
1. Employer Conspiracy

Office Relations

Lily Icerem

Chapter 1: Employer Conspiracy

(Posted: 26/11/12)

(Edited: 17/04/13)

A/N:Hello, this is my second fic and is my first Hetalia fic! So please go easy, yeah? Okay, so this might seem a little like a crack fic at first, but it really isn't once I get into the whole thing, it'll make more sense. I'm trying to keep these chapters short this time 'round. (I take my other fic WAY too seriously).

Genre:Romance/Humour

Pairings:RoChu (my OTP), USUK, GerIta, GiriPan, SuFin, Spamano, France/Joan of Arc, PruCan, Australia/New Zealand, Austria/Hungary and echoes of The Flying Pangle (Hungary/Prussia, Austria/Prussia, Austria/Hungary)… I think that's it for now… there might be more…

Warnings!There are no warnings for this chapter… the rating willgo up in the future, but for now, there's nothing to worry about. I do tend to swear a bit in my author's note, so sorry if I offend anyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or any of its characters. (Please note that these get weirder every time).

Enjoy!

Yao walked through the bustling street towards to the airport, tying his hair up as he went. He knew it had been a bad idea to travel to England at the last minute to the World Conference, but he was so busy the day before and there was no getting away from what he had to do. Paperwork had alarmingly risen from the floor to the roof of his house. There was hardly any place to walk in his study, papers piled on the ground, while folders were stacked high and hazardously everywhere. Even thinking about the appalling mess made him shiver. Yao had always liked his house to be neat and tidy. Lecturing his siblings about it had become a common pastime. If they were to find out about the state of his home, then he would have had to live his life in a hole. The enormous amount of paperwork was why China had to stay behind. If he left that much work behind, he would found a house filled to the brim with paper when he returned. He had wondered at some point whether or not he would have been able to open the door. Thus, Yao remained at home finishing his work, reducing the load he would have come back to. It was a good idea, well, at first that is. Unfortunately, Yao had stayed up incredibly late - or early if you look at it the other way - signing papers, as a result he fell asleep hunched over the table. That meant he never heard his alarm, making him late. That morning Yao had woken up with a cramp in his sensitive back and a very large headache which was _still_ happily pounding away in his brain because he did not have time to take anything for his aching body.

Bumping into a couple of people while wheeling his suitcase around, the polite nation sent out a string of apologies as he sped toward his destination. Yao sighed, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his face. In his rush, China had to do his hair during his travel. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible due to the crazy taxi driver who had speed through at least fifteen red lights throughout the trip. In his daze, Yao paid the man and raced away from the manic who in turn pulled out dangerously from the parking, nearly running over a poor old lady in the process. Normally Yao would have gone out of his way to help her, but he was going to be late. All in all, his morning hadn't been exactly pleasant.

Distracted by the sound a loud crash, Yao looked over his shoulder to find that there had been a small collision of travel trollies. Luggage and personal littered the ground. The owners were busy picking things up, while angrily cursing one other for not looking where they were going. He shook his head only to crash face first into a tall western looking man.

"I'm very sorry," apologised Yao before continuing to walk, but he was stopped by a hand gripping his arm.

"Yao-Yao, where are you going?"

There was only one person who would say his name like that, "Ivan?" Yao was shocked, why was Russia going there? "What do you mean, aru? I'm going to the World Conference. It is this evening, aru. If we don't get a move on, you and I will be late."

Ivan smiled fondly at his neighbour's flustered face, _'Yao-Yao is so cute, da?'_he thought. "No need to worry, the meeting was moved tomorrow. So slow down, da?"

"What?" Yao started, but shook his head. "No, I need to go anyway. The jet's pilot gets very grumpy when I'm late." He pulled his arm away from Ivan, walking away.

"Ah, but I think you've forgotten something, da?" Russian grinned. "You don't have a jet."

The reminder made China stop in his tracks. The truth dawned on him heavily. Of course he didn't have a jet. Well, Yao _did_before some complete idiot -cough-America-cough- decided that he would try a dangerous stunt he had seen on the internet evolving a privet jet, a flamethrower yielding manic (Prussia) and five and a half tones of un-popped popcorn. Let's just say it ended with an angry China, a pissed off flaming dragon-boss (no pun intended, those imbeciles lit Yao's boss' hair mane on fire in the process) and one very unusable jet.

"Aiyaa," exclaimed China desperately. "How am I supposed to get to the conference now?" He turned slowly around to face Russia, "Is this why you're here, aru?"

"I am a good neighbour, da?" smiled Ivan innocently.

"I-," Yao shook his head, "How did you know I would forget, aru?"

A dark aura started to appear around the tall intimidating man, "Yao-Yao, you did not answer my question. I am not a good neighbour?"

'_Aiyaa, someone's touchy today,'_thought Yao. "Yes, you are a good neighbour, aru." He sighed as Ivan's face lit up, he could be so easily pleased sometimes. "Now will you answer my question, aru? How did you know I would forget?"

"Apparently your boss called my boss to tell me to pick you up," the smiling Russia shrugged.

"Our bosses don't really get along, aru. What's with the sudden change in relation?"

"I don't know, but I think we should get a move on, da?" Ivan asked. He picked up Yao's suitcase and gestured the Asian country to follow him.

"Aiyaa, Ivan, I can carry that myself, aru," Yao complained, but he only got a slight shrug from the Russian. "Wait for me!"

_xxxXxxx_

"Are you really sure that you don't know why our bosses are acting strange lately, aru?" Yao asked, sitting down on the couch.

Russia mindlessly threw Yao's luggage to an unsuspecting flight attendant (who, in his distraught, managed to catch it) and sat down across from his Asian neighbour. "I don't know, but it could be what Arthur wants to talk about. I think it was something to do with our bosses being a little angry with us. England thinks that they may be conspiring against us."

"Come on, aru. What are the chances that our bosses are conspiring against their own workers? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" asked Yao in a doubting tone. "What can they do? Commit mutiny?"

Ivan only shrugged, relaxing into his seat. There were a lot of things that their bosses were capable of. It wasn't all that long ago when their bosses had forced them to do things that the nations did not want to do. Just because they hadn't done it for a while, didn't mean that they had given up on the action. "Go to sleep, Yao-Yao, there is no point thinking about it too much. We will know when we get there."

China sighed deeply, Ivan was right, there really wasn't any point in dwelling into the subject. Thinking too much in his state, would just give him a bigger headache. Although he had questioned Russia's reasoning, Yao couldn't help but think that maybe there _was_something that their bosses weren't telling them. It wouldn't have been the first time they had done something to them, but what were the chances?

Just like his neighbour, China laid his head back against the plush, leather-lined seat. Letting his heavy eyelids close, Yao fell into an uneasy sleep. He thought that it was impossible for their bosses to be planning something, but it the back his mind, he knew there was something sinister going on.

xxxXxxx

A/N:Okay, so tell me what you think. Reviews will ALWAYS be appreciated.

A 'thanks' to my beta, Baylee Shadow and I bid you all a good night (or day)…

This is me, being me (bored, tired and NOT cold, it's nearly summer).

~Lily Icerem~


	2. Aiyaa, Doomed from the Beginning

**Office Relations **

Lily Icerem

**Chapter 2: Aiyaa, Doomed from the Beginning**

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait, but I just didn't feel like writing for a long time… A big thanks to the people who reviewed. There are some '*'s everywhere, they go from one to four and go back to one. These are just some notes to go along with the story.

I've decided with very careful consideration, that Hong Kong will be called _Xiang Wang_. Why very careful consideration? It's because _Xiang _is just _Hong _in Mandarin and although I know next to nothing about Mandarin, in Cantonese (which I speak) _Hong _is technically a girl's name. This technicality has never bugged me before, but for some reason, I feel the need to ask anyone who speaks Cantonese/Mandarin or anyone who already knew this to please excuse this inaccuracy. I don't why it bugs me this much.

Also, Yao will probably speak both languages since he's China and would actually know how to speak all dialects of Chinese. Oh yes, there's a long scene with just China and Arthur, but there's nothing between them. I just think that they would make pretty good friends (or at least people who can be around each other without wanting to dive out of a window) since they both raised other countries, they both love tea and they're both part of the less insane nations. No relationships yet, la. Everything is eventual. Yes, I say 'la', I'm developing a speak tick… TT^TT

**Word Count: **6,919 (I was tempted to cut it in half, but… meh)

**Warnings! **Maybe cursing and a small RoChu-ish moment.

**Enjoy!**

"It seems," said Arthur gravely, "that the bosses are conspiring against us."

Sitting in the conference room, no one said a word. Everyone was curious to see why the meeting had been postponed, and why they had to have an extra one beforehand.

America laughed awkwardly, "Good one, Dude. You totally had me there."

"No, aru, I think he's telling the truth," said Yao, looking at Arthur who nodded curtly.

An eerie silence descended in the conference room. It was the peace before a storm. It wasn't long before there was an uproar. What was being said didn't make much sense. Anguished cries of the nations only spurred more shouts and roars. Yao, who had sported a growing headache since that morning, had gotten irritated at the low maturity of the other countries. Only a few sat in their seats quietly, watching commotion. Noticing the pain on Yao's face, Russia handed him a glass of water, which he took gratefully. China mouthed a 'thank you' to his neighbour and sipped at the water thoughtfully, relishing its coolness as it ran down his throat. They had gotten to their accommodation after their flight, wanting rest, only to find that they had a meeting.

"SHUT UP, YOU DUMMKOPFS!" Germany yelled loudly. "Instead of shouting hysterics at everything, why don't we give England a chance to explain? Maybe this way we'll get something out of this meeting, unlike our previous attempts."

Everyone turned towards Arthur who had returned to his chair to let the arguments die down. Standing up, he cleared his throat nervously as he felt the room's intense gaze on him. "Well, due to recent troubles that have been caused by various members, our bosses are now taking action against us. In other words, because of some of the idiots among us, we are now in danger of being punished."

Loud murmurs spread throughout the room. Like before, the majority made a racket while others stayed quiet, absorbing the information.

"And where, may I ask, did you get the information from?" questioned France.

"I'm SAS, it's what I do," Arthur answered plainly, only slightly annoyed at the question.

Japan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Is there any more you could tell us?"

"I may not know what exactly they're going to do with us, but I have heard that it is something to do with shipping us off to an island somewhere. They will not take action yet, because the vote was split equally," he sighed. "Only problem is that can be easily changed if we anger anymore bosses. One of the bosses who are against the notion is mine, so since you're here, I can only ask you all to try to keep out of trouble. Are there any more questions?"

Once again the room was silent, which was an uncommon occurrence due to the members in it, but Yao wasn't complaining, it helped his headache. Unfortunately, like all good things, it came to an end. Sighing, Arthur walked out, shaking his head.

Yao cupped his face in his hands, leaning forward in his chair. It had been a very long day. He couldn't deal with all the commotion. Moaning in fatigue, he leant back in his chair. They might be shipped to an island. It was a crazy notion, but he wouldn't put it past the bosses to do that.

xxxXxxx

The next day Yao felt somewhat better. His headache had dulled down and he didn't feel like running to the kitchen to retrieve his wok and ladle and pummel everyone who annoyed him in the slightest. Walking to the conference room, he saw a very tired looking England at the elevator.

"Good morning, ahen."

"Oh, good morning, Yao."

"You look tired."

Arthur his hand through his hair, "I just don't think they know how serious the situation is. If we do anything stupid we could be shipped off to God knows where by tomorrow. And yet, they sit there treating this like some sort of game, not knowing what might hit them in the face like a stinking pile of bird poo."

"I see your concern, ahen, but did you know that having a bird do their business on your head is considered good luck in my culture?"

"Yes, I did know, but I honestly I don't care about your culture at the moment, you git," England snapped. He seemed like he was going to lecture Yao about taking the subject more seriously when the island nation's phone rang. "Hello," he answered.

"_Good morning, Arthur." _

"Oh, Hong, good morning. Was there something you wanted?" he said cheerfully, ignoring China's curious eyes.

"_I was just wondering about my shipment." _

"Ah, yes, your firecrackers are fine, I assure you."

Yao's eyes widened, "Firecrackers?!" His brother was always playing with those things; he knew he never should have showed them to Hong Kong. China tried to snatch the phone from Arthur, but failed as he was shorter than the other nation. "Xiang!"

"_Oh, no I've got to go now," _Hong said hurriedly, tone not suiting his flat voice. _"Tell Gege* I said hi," _and with a click his side of the phone went dead.

Yao was still jumping up trying to get the phone. He could have just swept England off his feet with his Kung Fu, but maybe that was a bit of an overkill. "Give me the phone, Opium," he growled.

"He hung up," said Arthur, closing his phone. "Oh, and he said hi."

Fists clenched at his sides, Yao was pissed, "What on earth, ahen? Why would you have Hong's firecrackers?"

"Calm down a bit there, China. Hong just needed a place to relocate his stash since his last hiding spot got swamped in the incident with the fire trucks and his swimming pool." England wasn't scared. Nope. Not at all. There was nothing to be scared of. An ancient nation who's trained in martial arts for over four thousand years is nothing to be scared of… especially in a confined place. Why was the elevator taking so long anyway? It seemed like someone was trying to drag it on for longer. Not that it bothered him. Nope.

"Of course I know! He asked whether he could hide his stash at my place first, ahen!"

"Then why did you not let him put them here?" asked Arthur, getting a little angry himself. "I'm just trying to be a good brother figure! What about you?"

"_You _don't have a Yong Soo popping up in your house when he feels like it! You have no idea what would happen if he got his hands on the stash!" fumed Yao. "You opium bastard, always-" he stopped abruptly, "Wait, ahen, did you say that the firecrackers were here?"

"So what if I did? What could that possibly-" the realisation suddenly hit England. "Oh," he said blankly.

"Yes, 'oh'," huffed Yao. "Do you have any idea what you've done, ahen? You're the one who said that I should take this seriously and what do you do? You store Hong's large stash of explosives where any stupid idiot can set it off! If Hong was here, he'd probably set them off himself, but at least he knows what he's doing! For all we know, this building might not be on the map tomorrow!"

Arthur was a little stunned at his own stupidity. Maybe he hadn't thought the whole helping-Hong-Kong-out thing all the way through. He could just see it. A large boom and the building crumbles into little bits of dirt. While the others stare in stock, there will be a couple of them who stands there, laughing at their expense. Soon after that disaster, they'll all be shipped out to an unknown island away from all other civilisation… with no company other than the other nations. Some Arthur could deal with, but the thought of being on the same island as the frog-faced rapist made him want to become asexual. Also, July was coming up and if they were trapped on the same island, he would never be able to avoid the immature, egotistical git.

Yao watched the other nation in annoyance. He was being ignored… or Opium was just in very deep thought. What was really that interesting, anyway? He sighed as he watched the elevator lowered very slowly down towards the meeting room. Yao looked over at Arthur when they had arrived at their level. _'He's still thinking, ahen,'_ thought Yao. "Opium! Opium! We're there, ahen. Stop thinking," he called loudly, waving his arms in front of Arthur's face.

Breaking out of his trance, Arthur blinked confusedly. "W-what?

"We're here, ahen," China huffed in exasperation.

England rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously, "Yeah, sorry, I was thinking."

Yao sighed, rolling his eyes, but quickly catching himself, he had been spending way too much time with Im Yong Soo lately. "Yes, ahen, I could tell." He walked out of the elevator into the long corridor which led to the conference room, Arthur followed behind, thoughts still muddling his mind. It was still early so they were the first ones to be in the conference room.

"What are we going to do with it?" Arthur asked just as China was pulling out his chair. The Asian nation didn't answer, just looked at him with a tilted head. "I mean, this is serious, is there anything we can do?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yao muttered darkly, "There isn't anything you can do. I bet you anything, ahen, by tomorrow, this place will be nothing but a pile of rubble and red confetti**."

"I did hide them really well. I don't think South Korea will find them."

Yao chuckled humourlessly, "This is Yong Soo we're talking about. He finds chaos and chaos finds him, ahen. No matter how hard you hide it, he'll always find it. The only person who could hide the stash away from the boy was Hong, but he's busy right now, so really, ahen, we have no chance."

England ran his hand through his hair, "I'm sure there something we can do. I can go get my magic book later and see what I can do."

"Do you really think that it is smart to have your dark magic near Hong's explosives, ahen?"

The blond-haired nation groaned and rubbed his face in his hands. It was hopeless. Yao had a point there. Out of him and his brothers, his magic had got to be the worst. Maybe he could somehow get Scotland to do it. England flinched at the idea, the Scotsman would probably tease him for needing help, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Speaking of which, a magic book had disappeared from his libraries and he didn't know what happened to it.

"Where did you put the stash, anyway, ahen?"

"Hmm?" Arthur looked up towards Yao again. What was with him and phasing out today? "I hid it in-" before he could finish the door opened with a large bang (which he instantly grimaced at, knowing that the door handle would have left more than just a scratch) and America walked in.

"The hero is here!"

Yao smacked his face with his hand, while Arthur simply shook his head. Both nations were just not in the mood to deal with America antics.

"No need to be so loud, you git," Arthur snapped.

"You're just jealous because I'm the hero and you're just a sidekick!" yelled Alfred, obnoxious voice destroying the once quiet atmosphere of the room.

Arthur growled angrily, some days he really just wanted to throttle that ungrateful dolt.

"Al," said a gentle voice, "It is quite early, maybe you should quiet down a little." From behind Alfred, Canada came out holding his polar bear.

"But Matty, he started it," whined Alfred.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you're the one who started shouting first," scolded Matthew quietly.

Alfred looked as if he was going to complain, but Yao cut in, "Good morning Matthew."

"Oh, good morning, Mister China," answered Matty politely, walking towards Yao. Matty liked China, he was one of the few nations that could see him… well, most of the time, but it was better than the rest of them. They seemed to not see Canada at all.

"Yao is fine, Matthew," corrected China. Really, the boy was much more polite than America. He didn't get how people could mistake them for each other, they were too different. Yao couldn't understand how such a gentle, quiet, polite boy could ever be Alfred's twin. "Alfred's a bit early, isn't he?" asked Yao.

"Yes, but I bribed him with pancakes this morning, so he'd get out of bed," Canada smiled shyly. He didn't know that his plan would have worked so nicely… although, the memory of how much chocolate sauce his brother had put on this pancakes made him feel nauseous. Matty, himself, only stuck with maple syrup, and that was in moderation.

Yao was about to comment but realised that Matthew's attention was not at him, but behind him… where America and England were. "They're fighting again, aren't they, aru?" he sighed. Matty nodded plainly. "Fix the situation, he thought. If he didn't spend so much time arguing with Alfred, then maybe he would get somewhere," Yao mused out loud.

"What was that?" ask Matthew.

"Nothing," replied Yao, shaking his head. "Just again, contemplating why we never get things done, aru."

The Canadian nodded understandingly and walked to his chair. Yes, he agreed with Mr Ch-Yao, they never really got anything done. Maybe if Mr England and his brother just released their sexual tension, then… Wait. Sexual tension? No. No. No. He did not just think of that. Nope. Damn it, why did he just have to think of that? That's a horrible, horrible picture! Bad, Canada. Why hadn't anyone invented brain bleach?

Looking towards the two fighting nations and completely unaware of the shy nation's dilemma, was China, who was not really paying attention to what he was looking at, but was thinking very hard to why the ground underneath the table seemed so peculiar. Checking that it was safe to look under the table, Yao peered closely at the floorboards. They were fine, the same colour, texture and size. They seemed the same except they didn't line up completely. It sort of seemed like the time when they tried hiding Alfred's large pile of hamburgers by digging a hole in the ground and enchanting American's own flag to…

'_No. He didn't, aru.'_

Yao placed his hand where the floorboards didn't quite line up to feel where the fabric was. By this time, he was completely under the table. Carefully lifting up the edge of the cloth, China leaned closer to examine what was underneath it. Scrutinising the subject, Yao saw objects that were tube-like and distinctly red.

Yao could have whacked his head against wall at the moment and smash through it… and the wall behind it… and the wall behind that one. He growled inwardly, _'How on earth can he be that stupid, aru? And _he's_ supposed to be smarter than America? Pah, I spit on him and his 'superiority',' _fumed Yao.

"What are you doing under there, Yao-Yao?" came a soft, familiar voice.

"Aiyaa!" Yao yelled in pain when he hit his head on the bottom of the table. "Ivan, you scared me, aru!" He crawled from under the table, rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry, Yao, but I was just curious why you were under the table," said Russia apologetically. "What _were _you doing under the table?"

"Ah, I-I," he stammered, trying to find an excuse. "I dropped something, aru."

"Did you find it," asked Ivan, tilting his head and Yao shook hurting head. "Do you need help?"

"No that's fine," said Yao desperately. He couldn't afford Ivan finding Hong's stash, the man might get surprised and say it loudly out for the idiot in the room to hear. "It wasn't important, aru, just a cheap pen," he lied rubbing his head.

Ivan looked at his neighbour worriedly, he was hiding something. China was rubbing his head. _'He hit it pretty hard, didn't he?'_ pondered Russia. It did not really matter what Yao was hiding from him at that moment, Ivan thought that Yao should get something for that sore head of his. He grabbed China's hand and led him out of the room, not receiving attracting looks from any of the occupants in the room who's attention had been on the two fighting nations all the way through. They _did _however bump into a whistling France on their way out of the double doors.

"Hey!" yelled France. "Watch where you're going. Huh? Russia and China?" He watched as a blushing China who was bowing apologetically being dragged away by Ivan. "I wonder where they're going," he muttered to himself, dirty thoughts appearing in his head. "Are they finally getting together? If it's true… _hon hon hon hon_, I want a piece of that. Hmmm, but I'm not sure if Russia will let me touch his little Yao." He thought of Russia and his dark scary aura. "Maybe not," Francis shook his head and walked into the room, not even giving America and Arthur a second glance, and sat down, ready for another useless meeting… although maybe this time things would get interesting.

It was too bad that he didn't know that he was right. If he had, then maybe he would have stopped himself from jinxing the situation.

xxxXxxx

"Ivan, where are you taking me, aru?" asked Yao, blushing as he was dragged helplessly behind his tall neighbour. Ivan didn't answer him and just kept walking until they reached a small kitchenette room in the middle of the long corridor.

Ivan opened the door, looking around to find that the room was empty. He went inside, pulling Yao behind him before lowering the smaller nation gently onto the plush couch that sat in the middle, facing the kitchenette.

"Aiyaa, Ivan what is all this for?" sighed breathlessly China, closing his eyes. Reaching a hand up to his head, he clutched at it delicately, hoping that the small amount of pressure implied would help the pain. It didn't. Yao exhaled tiredly. Maybe he should go back to the conference room. There was no one there to guard Hong's stash from being lit alight and burning the whole building to the floor. Sure, Arthur was still in there, but he doubted that it really made all that much difference, since that opium idiot was probably throttling that other idiot and not paying any attention whatsoever to the giant pile of explosives under his feet.

Leaning on the back of the sofa, Yao opened his eyes to find Ivan rummaging through the freezer. Curious as to what hi friend was doing, he got up from the couch and walked over to the fridge. Yao stood tall as he could on his tiptoes, but still failed to look over Ivan's lowered shoulders.*** _'He's too tall, aru' _thought Yao irritably. Giving up on have a somewhat clear view, he moved so that he was beside the Russian, hoping that he could catch a glimpse of what his neighbour was looking for.

"Ah, I knew that there was going to be ice in here somewhere," smiled Ivan, eyes closed as he turned to face the couch.

He opened his eyes only to stare at golden orbs. Yao, with his small, quiet footsteps, had come to stand closely beside him without Ivan realising. They were close, at that distance, Ivan could see the shiny flecks in Yao's rich gold eyes. The Asian's smooth, unblemished skin was like honeyed milk pale but with a hint of warmth. Ivan resisted the urge to stroke the soft-looking canvas. Upon the high defined cheeks, was the most adorable blush; its rosy tint made more prominent by what it sat on. The scent of the small man before him wafted into his senses. Yao smelt of fresh peonies and delicious fragrant teas. Ivan's eyes moved slowly down from China's eyes to the Asian nation's small, pink, petal-like lips. Ivan wondered how Yao's cute, irresistible lip would taste. What would he give to have the chance of taking Yao's chin and tip it up so that he could press his cool lips to Yao's surely warm ones? What would he give to be able to take out the ribbon that keeps Yao's hair up so that he can run his fingers through the man's dark, silky hair? What would Ivan give so that he could just be more than just a neighbour, a comrade, a friend to Yao?

Patience. That's what Ivan needed. If he really wanted to get closer China, than he would have to wait longer. Yao was not someone who he could just push into a relationship. If he could wait as long as he did to even just be on good terms with the man, then Ivan could wait longer to have Yao fall in love with him.

Snapping out of his trance, Ivan fixed his smile that had faulted slightly when he had been looking at Yao. "Yeah hit your head, da?" His friend, now looking down, blushing, only nodded shyly. "I've got some ice for your head. It should help."

Yao gave an undignified yelp as he was lifted up by a chuckling Russia. "I-Ivan, what are you doing?" asked Yao, his blush turning deeper than it was before.

Ivan placed Yao on the bench, lowering his head so that he started directly into Yao's eyes looking serious… right before he smiled and flicked Yao on the nose playfully, making the older nation to blink several times before scowling. It only made Ivan laugh harder. "I'm only trying to help, Yao-Yao. If you had stayed where you were then I wouldn't have had to put you here so that you would sit, da?"

Yao huffed and crossed his arms, "I would have stayed there if you had told me what you were doing. I'm not a child, aru. You don't need to treat me like one. I can look after myself." He glared at Ivan.

The Russian tried to hold back a laugh, but failed as Yao began to swing his legs from his place on top of the high countertop. Ivan laughed behind his hand, "But Yao-Yao is so cute, da?"

"I am not cute, aru!" snapped Yao, he didn't get why his friend always insisted in teasing him. Was it really just that amusing? "And don't call me that."

"Whatever you say, Yao-Yao."

"Erg!," China groaned loudly. "I give in!" announced Yao, throwing his hands up.

Ivan nodded amusedly, only then remembering the icepack he had left on the table beside the fridge. Walking over, he picked up the icepack and pulled a clean, beige handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapping it around the ice. "Here, da?" said Ivan, holding the icepack gently to Yao's head.

Yao blushed deeply; his hands were clenched nervously on the edge of the bench, eyes looking down, trying to avoid Ivan's gaze. Maybe he really should have gone back to the conference room. There was no knowing when Yao's hyperactive brother would show up. He really needed to be there to watch out for trouble. Yao bit his lower lip and peeked shyly up through his eyelashes at Ivan who was tentatively patting his head looking for the sore spot. Maybe… maybe the firecrackers could wait. It felt nice, being tended to. He couldn't really remember a time when someone had taken the time to look after him. Hong Kong had done it several times, but somehow, the way Ivan did it was different. It was times like this that made Yao feel like a child, delicate and precious. He remembered how he hated that feeling when he was younger, but maybe he had grown up too fast; demanding respect at too young an age. He had tended to many before, with his siblings and all, but himself? It was always him looking after others and not the other way around. Maybe this feeling was too bad after all. He flinched slightly when Ivan had found where he had hit his head.

"Ah, sorry, there it is," Ivan said, moving the icepack so that it sat gently above the spot. "You seem distracted, Yao. Is something on your mind?"

China looked at his neighbour who had his head tilted to the side, waiting for him to answer. Why hadn't he told Ivan? He could actually be helpful! Yao inwardly smacked himself with a wok and told Ivan about Arthur, the firecrackers and the fact that they were all doomed.

"Well, it seems England has messed up a bit, da?"

"Understatement of the year, aru."

"Not exactly, remember when Hungary and Lichtenstein were arguing about whether it was Roderich or Basch would look better in an dress and Basch got out his gun when he overheard-"

"Yes, yes, aru. No need to remind me. I still have my poor bullet dented wok to jog my memory."

Ivan hummed and chuckled at the memory, "Yes, it caused quite a commotion, da?"

Yao huffed, something that he found himself doing a lot around the Russian nation, "He's quite violent for someone who has a Peace Prize, isn't he? He also has pretty bad aim, that Switzerland."

"Oh, Yao-Yao, he was just trying to protect his little sister from the dangers of yaoi, that's all," laughed Ivan, putting down the icepack on the bench, patting Yao on the head with his other hand. "You can't really talk; you would do the same, da? Actually, if I recall correctly, it wasn't a very long time ago when you attacked France for feeling up Hong Kong. What did you say again? Ah, I remember, _'You touch him ever again, and I swear to whatever God that you believe in, I will hack you balls out with a hair brush and force them down your throat. You stay away from my brother, you got that?'_ and you said that before you tied him up with America's charger cord and shoved him into a washing basket. Did you know that it took Gilbert and Spain almost an hour to get him out of there?"

"Aiyaa," exclaimed China, face growing pink, "I don't know what came over me that day. It's not like Hong can't defend himself; he's taller me!"

"It was quite amusing to watch," mused Ivan. "Actually, I think Hong Kong just stood there smirking, waiting for you to finish."

"I don't think he likes Francis all that much, aru."

"Not many people do."

Yao nodded in agreement. Thinking back, Hong _had _seemed calmer than normal. Usually, if Yao went on a rampage, his little brother would be there almost instantly, stopping Yao from doing something that could be harmful to himself or others, but that time was different. It seemed that all those years and Xiang still held resentment for those who had been nasty to China****. France, Kiku, which worried Yao, and even Arthur… although, that was always just petty pranks without any malice. It was funny that Opium still hadn't figured out that Hong deliberately speaks in his Chinese accent just to spite him. Yao giggled quietly as he imagined Arthur's reaction when he finds out.

"What's so funny, Yao?" Ivan asked, thinking how cute China was when he giggled. Yao just shook his head, pink tinting his cheeks. "Well, maybe we should get going, da?"

"We have firecrackers to watch, aru."

Ivan tilted his head as Yao got down gracefully off the kitchen bench, "Yao-Yao makes it sound like they will go off."

"Who said they won't, aru?"

xxxXxxx

"Kyle*, could you please hand out those sheets I asked you to do?" asked Arthur. He didn't have the energy to do the paper work himself, so he asked Australia to do them for him. Thank God he still had one (slightly) reliable person he could depend on… unlike a certain someone.

"Sure, Mu-Arthur," Kyle poked he tongue out at his slip up and started to hand out the papers. Arthur didn't mind when he called him 'Mum' when there wasn't too many people around, but at a World Meeting, it would be 'completely inappropriate for the occasion' or something like that. Shaking off the thought, he continued his task.

Arthur stood up, addressing the meeting, "Alright, if everyone's here, I think it's time we start." Looking around seeing if anyone was missing, saw Yao looking at him, unimpressed… but then again, when was China ever impressed with him? Although, Arthur _did _recall seeing the Eastern nation look under the table earlier that morning. Maybe he'd already seen the stash? That wasn't too much of a problem, but if his Korean brother found them as well...

_BOOM! _

Arthur shook himself from his thoughts, it wouldn't be _that _bad. He looked at the group, who in return, were all looking at him with mild curiosity. "Okay, then, let's start."

"Dude, did you read this thing?" America said (yelled) at Kyle. "There are totally typos in this!"

"Yeah, I read through the sheet, America," sighed Australia. "There aren't any typos, mate."

"But, Bro!"

A vein twitched on Kyle's forehead, "I'm not your _Bro_**."

"Come on," whined Alfred. "Look! You spelt metre wrong."

There was a collective groan around the room as the familiar argument showed its ugly head.

"I didn't spell it wrong, you dipshit," said Australia evenly, crossing his arms. "You American's are the ones who got it wrong, mate. I'm Australian and _this _is England, we spell it properly here."

"I'm the hero! My way's the proper way."

"Oh, bloody hell, Alfred," Arthur snapped irritably. "You don't even use the measurement. Just let it go!"

America puffed out his chest, "Hey, neither do you half the time***."

"Well, at least I spell it right, you dolt."

And with that the two began to fight… again. Like many times before it started with only the two, but as they toppled and stumbled over other countries, those who were less tolerant joined in. Chaos erupted throughout the entire room, the heavy chair flew at the nations with great speed, the windows rattled dangerously from the enormity of the sound that filled the room and spit balls… _spit balls? _Where were they? High school?

The insults, punches and even the odd shoe were thrown at each other without really having a target. The objective of the fight was forgotten, lost under the splinters that were originally sturdy wooden chairs. Unfortunately, it had yet to reach its peak of destruction.

Just as the riot seemed to die down, someone accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) pulled on Romano's hair curl.

"Bastardo!" shrieked Romano, "Who did it? Grow some balls and admit it like a man!" The room grew silent as people looked around for a culprit. Like the selfish, cowardly bastards they were (Romano's personal thoughts), no one came forward for the _'oh so horrible' _crime! Fuming, Lovino pulled out box of tomatoes; red, ripe and great for throwing.

'_Oh, no!' _thought China, he had somehow avoided all the conflict until then, but he looked at the box of tomatoes in horror. Last time Romano had brought them out, Yao spent the whole afternoon after the meeting desperately washing tomato chunks of all sizes out of his hair. His clothes had been beyond help.

"FOOD FIGHT!" screamed America as the first tomato soared through the air towards him, he caught it, fumbling. Alfred returned fire with it and missed, the tomato exploding on contact with France… it hit him dead on the face, splattering the people around him with tomato juice.

"You American pig!" Francis cried, wiping the pips out of his eyes. "You will pay for this!" He lent over, and picked up a large, incredibly soft tomato out of the box. With all his strength his pegged it at Alfred who ducked out of the way just in time… for it to smack Arthur on the back of the head.

"Oi!" England stumbled on his feet slight, holding his head. "Stop this, you bunch of collective, bloody wankers!"

"Hahaha," laughed America obnoxiously. "No way, Dude. This'll be so much fun! Time to take it up a notch!" Alfred pulls out a hefty sized bag from behind him. "You're all gonna lose!" He reaches in and takes out a familiar lump of coal…

Coal? That's not coal… oh crap.

It's a scone!

Hysteria spreads like soft butter on fresh, hot toast. Everyone dashed away from the scone wielding nation, except Arthur, who stood his ground, fuming. His face was redder than the smashed tomato that dripped slowly from his hair.

"What do you think you're doing, you tosser?" the Englishman growled.

"You don't think I actually _ate_ these things, did you? I totally saved them for this kind of occasion, man!"

"They're scones, you git, not weapons!"

Alfred threw the deadly scone across then room at Austria, but it was deflected away with a clang when Hungary hit it back with her frying pan. The scone flew to the right, hitting Gilbert, who was screaming 'I'm the awesomest', in the temple; he crumpled to the ground, out cold. Poor little Gilbird tweeted worriedly, flying around Prussia's head.

"Why is he even here?" asked Austria.

No one answered.

"See, Iggy?" chuckled America. "You make great weapons!"

"Don't call me the degrading name, you complete nutter."

Alfred looked as though he was going to reply, but an annoying voice shouted, "HEY AMERICA!" He swivelled around just in time to be hit in the… um… where it hurts most by a surprisingly hard tomato. "SCORE, DA ZE!" shouted Yong Soo.

"S-South Korea?" squeaked Alfred, his voice higher than usual. "That was totally uncool, dude."

Yong Soo ignored America, "Hey, Aniki!" he shouted across the room. "Did you see what I did, Yao-Hyong****?"

"Yes, Yong Soo," China sighed feeling a migraine coming his way. "Well done."

"Hahaha," laughed South Korea as he dodged a scone thrown his way by a recovered America. "I'm too ninja for you to get me, da ze!"

Alfred growled and hurled scones at Yong Soo, who in turn, ducked and evaded them skilfully. While America was ferociously targeting the energetic Asian, he accidentally harmed a lot of other nations in the process. This caused more people to join in on the massive scone and tomato fight. Yao, who had deflected all the objects thrown at him with his wok, had grown fed-up up with the group and sat on one of the beams in the roof, watching the chaos continue.

South Korea ducked as he felt something come at him from behind. That America again, he just wouldn't give up. He laughed amusedly as he saw England trying to strangle the country with the Union Jack which at one time, had hung with pride upon the wall. He looked around to see where his Aniki had gone and found China looking unimpressed down into the mess below him.

Yong Soo climbed up onto the beam easily and sat next to his brother. "Aniki, is something bothering you, da ze? What are you doing up here?"

China sighed for what must be the thousandth time that day, "I just don't want to be down there with all the idiots, aru. What are you doing here? I thought you would have wanted to join in on more of what Alfred calls fun."

"Yao-Hyong, you're keeping something from me, da ze."

"W-what?" stumbled Yao. "No, I'm not, aru."

Yong Soo scoffed, "You're a bad liar, Aniki." He looked at Yao trying to see what his older brother was hiding from him. "Tell me."

Yao opened his mouth to say something when a scone aimed at Yong Soo sailed towards his face. China, with his quick reflexes, caught the scone expertly. He was going to toss it gently down, but Yong Soo took it from his hand and pegged it with all his strength at America who was standing in the table. The scone missing him, but created the large hole in the table which Alfred fell into with an undignified cry.

Only Yao, Yong Soo and a few other saw what Alfred's fall had revealed.

The firecrackers.

Yao looked hesitantly at Yong Soo's face, scared to see what he might find, and with very good reason. The boy's eyes were wide with the excitement of a manic ready to create chaotic anarchy. Yao could almost see the cogs in Yong Soo's head turning, thinking almost feverishly at what he could do with the pile of red explosives. The confusion South Korea could cause with the stash was unthinkable. Yao shivered as he saw a sly grin appear on Yong Soo's face.

Oh God, someone help them.

China watched as Yong Soo took a box of matched out from his pocket. His hand shot out to catch South Korea, but caught nothing but air. His brother had slipped away into the mass of nations below.

By now, most of the nations had stopped and realised that they were in a room with a tone of explosives and a young, match wielding manic and were trying to stop Yong Soo from setting the stash alight. No one managed to catch the hyperactive nation as he danced through the people with ease.

Regretting that he had ever taught the boy martial arts in the first place, Yao jumped down from the roof and picked up a scone, throwing it at South Korea's ankle. Yong Soo stumbled and was caught by Switzerland. South Korea struggled desperately, knowing that if he didn't act soon, he wouldn't have the chance to send the building sky high. Many other nations gathered around him and Switzerland, trying to get the box of matches away from his grasp.

Just as things seemed to be getting under control, another trouble maker showed his head.

The heavy double doors burst open with a bang and revealed Sealand dressed in what seemed to be Arthur's old cape and a large old book. "I'll save you!" yelled Sealand proudly. Everyone stopped to look at the new commotion.

"Peter?" Arthur climbed out from a bunch of nations that had crash tackled him. "I thought I said that you couldn't come to this meeting."

"I don't need to listen to you, jerk England," scowled Sealand. "I'm a country and I've come to save you all by using this magic book I stole from England!"

"You little bugger, I've been looking for that!" yelled Arthur angrily. "You little thief!"

"Don't be such an old man, it's time I got some recognition. Stand aside and let me get to work. I'll make this disappear in no time," and with that, Peter started to chant a spell, green light surrounded the book.

As everyone's attention was on the stash and Sealand, Yong Soo had pulled out a match, setting the little head on fire and threw it at the stash.

Everyone watched in horror as the small flame glided nearer and nearer to the pile.

"Take cover!" screamed Germany.

All the nations quickly ducked towards the ground covering their heads, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Nothing came.

Alfred was the one to recover for the shock first, he chuckled and other followed his example. Very soon, the whole room filled with laughter, well, everyone except Yong Soo. He stared at the pile, disappointed. He was going to leave that meeting and get scolded by China, and it was all for nothing. He turned to find Yao looking at him with a blank face and walked towards his older brother.

Everyone relaxed and smiled as they chuckled at the big false alarm that sent them all into hysteria. All seemed well, but as per usual, the peace didn't last.

"Hey, is that supposed to glow like that?" it was from Spain who was looking at the pile of firecrackers with wide eyes.

Arthur, realising what was about to happen, shouted, "Everybody out! NOW!"

No one had to be told twice. The brightness of the green glow from the hole in the ground was enough to tell them that it is wasn't a joke. It was going to blow and it was time to get the hell away from that place.

Yao dragged Yong Soo towards the door and pulled a curious looking Russia with him as well. That was definitely not the time to be inquisitive. Ludwig dragged out a still unconscious Prussia with that help of a surprising composed Italy. All the nations got out of the doomed building just as the light from the firecrackers reached the ground floor.

_BOOM! _

England watched as the building was destroyed in front of his eyes. The windows went first; shattering as like they had been broken with the right pitch. Next… well, everything. Just like Arthur's imagination, the building crumbled under the power of out of control magic and Hong's large stash of explosives. Which reminded him, how on earth was he supposed to explain to Xiang that his stash was now nothing but… nothing?

Yao came to stand beside Arthur just as what was left of the building caught on fire, defining their fate of being shipped to an unknown island. Yao tapped him on the shoulder and he turn to face the Chinese nation. "What is it?"

"Looks like I won the bet, aru."

xxxXxxx

* - Gege means big brother in Mandarin... or at least one way, but I think this is way cuter. Although, I'm pretty sure it's the same in Cantonese, I'm not actually too sure about how it's written, so I'll just leave it as Mandarin. Also, I'm not sure, but I think there are accents somewhere, but really, don't I take long enough writing already? I don't think I'll put them in.

** - Red confetti… firecrackers leave behind red confetti. They're really loud, but they're really quite pretty when they cover the ground with a carpet of red, even though that's littering…

*** - I am aware that Ivan is not _that _tall and Yao is not _that _short, but I've always found the height difference extremely cute.

**** - I've read WAY too many fics that are based around the Asian family and my favourite thing about them is when they get all protective!siblings on Yao and the best in either protective!Hong ('cause he's really scary when he gets mad) or protective!Kiku (which also has the same reason). It's hilarious!

* - Kyle van Diemen, this is Australia if anyone is wondering. I looked at the web and I know more 'Kyle's than every other name on the list. Also, I ask someone and they said to use this one as well.

** - I know that technically America and Australia would be best buds after WW2 and all, but I _love _the over-protective-younger-sibling thing, so give it to me space to work with, yeah?

*** - I have no idea if this is right, correct me if I'm wrong, but apparently they use different measurements for different things?

**** - Hyong is Korean for a boy's big brother… or so that's what the site says. Correct me if I'm wrong.

xxxXxxx

**A/N: **So, how was it? That took WAY too long!

The chapter is also WAY too long. The next chapter will be much, much shorter… hopefully… but really, that's what I said about this one and look where it got me? I said that it was almost finished at one thousand words… four thousand words later… yeah, not done yet. So, I hope that the next one will the shorter and will come faster.

A massive thanks to my beta, Baylee Shadow! No, really, this time, even bigger than normal, because I was writing Kyle and I couldn't, because he was too polite. Think! I've lived in Australia all my life and I don't know how to sound Australian? FAIL! So, yeah, she rewrote some of Australia's dialogue and the only thing that I contributed was the word 'dipshit', yeah, we actually say that here. I actually quite like that insult.

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think and I hope that I can get another chapter out sooner.

This is me, being me (cold and sleep deprived)

~Lily Icerem~


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